Xmen Revisited, Chapter 5: A day at the fair
by Kindar
Summary: My X-men universe. Scott and he gang head out for a day of fun and relaxation at the fall fair.
1. Chapter 1

Ororo poked her head in the living room where Jean was stretched out on the couch, her head on Scott's lap. "Do you know where I can find Mac?" she asked after scanning the room.

"Not really, have you tried his lab?" Scott replied, his finger playing in Jean's hair.

"He's in the garage," Jean said after checking mentally, "he's tuning the engine on the corvette." Over the last few months Jean had become a staple at the house, arriving on Friday and leaving Sunday evening. Fridays were normally a movie night for them, and the movie was playing, but neither was paying too much attention to it.

"Thanks." Ororo went directly to the garage where, as Jean had said, Henry had his head buried under the corvette's hood. "Mac, any chance we can talk?"

Henry looked out and smiled at her, "Sure," he said as he put the wrench down, "I'm all ears." He leaned back against the car, wiping the grease off his hands with an old rag.

"Can we go somewhere Scott won't be able to walk in on us?"

Henry was a little surprised by the request but he nodded. "Sure, lets go to my lab."

Inside it he locked the door behind them. "What's this sensitive matter you don't want Scott to know about?"

"I'm planning on bringing my," she searched for the right word, "boyfriend with us to the fair tomorrow."

"So we finally get to meet the mysterious man."

Ororo nodded, "I want your opinion on how I should handle the introductions."

Henry leaned against one of his work table, "ok, I'm not certain how I can help facilitate the procedures, but I'll go my best."

"It's Bishop," She said flatly.

Henry straightened up and his blood ran cold. "Are you insane?" As a group they had had three dealings with the assassin, each time walking away from it in bad shape. And on the last one Scott had almost died. Ororo had been the one to save his life by sending Bishop flying away in a tornado. "Don't you remember what he did to us? You can't bring him there, how do you know he's not just using you to get back at Scott again?"

She folded her arms over her chest and did her best to keep her temper in check. "Henry McCoy," said sternly, "what did *you* tell me when I started commenting on you and Thomas?"

Henry glared at her, "I told you to mind your own business."

Ororo nodded. "I'm not asking you to understand, but I need you to accept that he's good for me."

He turned around and rested his hands on the table, putting his weight on them as he tried to catch his breath and calm his nerves. "The tibia, the femur in two places, the humerus, the radius and six ribs," he recited.

"What?"

"Those are the bones that he broke in my body the last time we met. I spent three weeks in the hospital. Are you expecting me to just forgive and forget?"

She placed a hand on his shoulder, "no, but I'd like you to give him a chance. He left the Renegades and he's trying to change. Isn't that what we're about? That it's possible to rise above your past and become a better person? Of the five of us, Katherine is the only one who doesn't have things she'd rather forget. We've made something of ourselves in spite of the things we had to do growing up. He's not that different from us."

Henry closed his eyes and forced himself to remember that Ororo wasn't a woman who jumped into relationships easily. He had trouble believe that the man *could* change, but if she said that Bishop was trying to, he had to believe her. He took a deep breath and finally slowed his heart beat. "Alright, I'll accept it," he said not moving, "but Scott isn't going to be this easy to convince."

"I know, that's why I need your help introducing them."

"For starters, don't bring him here," he stated, straightening up and turning.

"That's a given," she replied.

"You can't simply show up with him at the fair either, Scott is going to go ballistic when he sees him and he's going to need some time to cool down, even with Jean's help." Ororo was about protest that she *was* bringing him, but Henry forestalled her with a raised hand. He went to a computer and brought up a map of the area where the Fair was held. "Yes, that would be a good spot," he muttered to himself. "Cynthia, please call Thomas, at work"

"Of course Henry," the computer replied in a young Katherine Hepburn voice.

"Good evening," a synthetic voice said afterward, "you have reached the offices of the Agency of Mutant Affairs. Please state the name of the person you are trying to reach."

"Thomas Black."

"One moment please. Please note that for the purpose of call quality control, your call may be monitored"

The line clicked there was silence for a few seconds and then it clicked again, "Thomas black speaking."

"Hi Thomas, it's Henry, how is the overtime going?"

"Hi Henry," they could hear the smile in Thomas' voice, "overtime in the office is boring, that's what makes it worth while. To what to I owe the pleasure of listening to your voice?"

"I was wondering if you'd be amicable to a change of plan tomorrow."

"What kind of change are we talking about?"

"Instead of going to the fair directly at noon, I was thinking we could go there early and have a picnic, there's a lightly wooded area half a mile from there. We could enjoy a light meal, and relax under the sun before spending the rest of the afternoon riding roller coasters."

Thomas chuckles "I don't have a problem with that, but I'm going to be getting home pretty late, I'm not going to have the time to prepare sandwiches."

"Don't worry your handsome self about that. I'll take care of the food. I'll make sure there's enough for the eight of us."

There was a moment of silence, "eight of us?"

"Yes," Henry replied, "You did say you had eight tickets for the fair."

"I take it Ororo is bringing the man she's currently seeing?"

"Yes, she is."

There was a pause. "I'm not sure if that's a good idea," Thomas said.

"What does *that* mean?" Ororo asked.

"O, Ororo?" Thomas stammered, "Damn it Henry, I wish you'd told me you were on speaker."

"I didn't realize it made a difference," Henry said.

"Shut up Henry," Ororo told him, "and you tell me what you mean by that."

Thomas sighed, "Bishop and Scott have an unpleasant history."

She cut him off, "how the hell do you know about Bishop? Have you been spying on me?"

"Of course not!" Thomas replied in an offended tone. "He's the one that's under surveillance."

"What? What for?"

"Because he's an ex assassin for the Renegades."

"*Ex* Assassin, he hasn't had anything to do with them for at least six month."

"True, but he still hasn't registered with us, until he does we have to treat him like a potential threat."

"That's bullshit. I'm not registered and you don't spy on me."

"You don't have a history with the Renegades Ororo, he does. I'm not going to list all the things he's done since I know you wouldn't be going out with him without already knowing the worst of them. Our job involves protecting civilians against mutant threats. I'm not saying he's one, I actually think he's making efforts to assimilate, but we still have procedures to follow."

Henry placed a hand on her shoulder, "She'd already told me about Bishop, that's why I want to have the picnic; it'll give Scott space and time to calm down."

"Alright, what time do you want to get there?"

"I was thinking ten."

"Ok, I'll see you home then."

"I'll be eagerly waiting for you." Henry hung up.

"Were you playing dumb?" Ororo demanded, "did you already know about me and Bishop?"

"No, I didn't. Thomas doesn't talk about work with me. The only person here who might know would be Jean, and I doubt it, she isn't involved with surveillance. You come with him to the picnic tomorrow and we'll deal with that explosion."

Ororo nodded and hugged him, "Thanks."

He hugged her back, "you're welcome, now, why don't you go see your boyfriend and warn him of what he might have to face tomorrow."

After Ororo left he grabbed a quick shower and headed to the kitchen, stopping by the living room to enlist Scott and Jean's help.

"What did Ororo want?" Scott asked in the middle of making sandwiches.

"She just wanted some advice on a personal matter," Henry replied.

"And she went to you?" Scott was surprised; normally she came to him with those.

Reading the look on Scott's face Henry chuckled, "you were sort of busy with a beautiful woman's head on your lap. I don't think she wanted to disturb you."


	2. Chapter 2

The day was beautiful; the sun was shining, burning away the last of the morning coolness, only a few wisps of clouds were visible. The top of the slightly sloping hill was about a miles from the fairgrounds. A dirt road came out of the woods and wound away to join the main road. At the edge of the wood, just off the road, two cars were parked. Jean, Scott, Katherine and Peter were a few hundred yards away playing Frisbee. Thomas and Henry were snuggled together in the shade of a tree, keeping watch on the picnic baskets.

Thomas chuckled as Henry started nibbling his neck, trying to get him off, but he couldn't get the leverage, as his aggressor well knew. "Stop," he barely managed to say between breath, "I think," he laughed as Henry assaulted his neck again, "I think she's coming."

Henry immediately sobered up, "are you sure it's her?"

Thomas threw him a look promising vengeance before closing his eyes and sending his senses along the shadows. "I'm not sure, the vehicle doesn't feel familiar." He focused on what he was feeling, forming a shape each time the vehicle passed through a shadow. "It's a pickup," he said frowning.

"I can hear it now," Henry said. He got off Thomas and sat up; Ororo had taken the Mustang to go see Bishop. It would be asking for even more trouble for just any passerby to see two men in an embrace.

An old pickup broke out of the tree line and parked next to the other cars. Ororo got out of the passenger side wearing jeans, a t-shirt and a plaid flannel shirt tied over her breasts and waved at them. A muscular black man wearing jeans and a matching flannel shirt got out of the driver's side and reached in the back of the pickup for a wicker basket. Even though he knew he was coming, Henry found his hands clenching into fist and a severe desire to go pound Bishop's face in. Thomas placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it for comfort.

Henry closed his eyes and forced himself to relax with a deep breath. "Ororo's here," he said loudly as he stood. He kept an eye on Scott as the four stopped playing and moved closer, waving in greeting.

Scott was the first one to notice something odd, slowing his pace. A moment after that everyone else stopped moving. "What the fuck is he doing here?" Scott yelled as he walked past everyone, his eyes glowing red. Katherine and Peter had apprehension etched on their faces. Jean looked around not understanding what was happening. Thomas stayed in the shade of the tree ready to intervene if things got out of hand. Ororo placed herself in front of Bishop to shield him and Henry blocked Scott's path.

"Get out of my way Mac," Scott said through clenched teeth.

"No," Henry replied, "He's here with Ororo,"

"I don't fucking care who he's with he tried to kill me and I'm going to return the favor."

Henry put a hand on his chest and pushed him back. "No, you're not. You're so angry that you're forgetting that he's just going to absorb your beam. This is supposed to be a day to for us to enjoy ourselves. I'm not going to let you ruin it."

Scott looked at him in disbelief, "I'm ruining it? What the fuck are you doing defending him? Don't you remember what he did to us?"

Henry looked over his shoulder at Bishop, his hatred chipping away at his control and he knew it showed in his face. "Yes, I remember," he said looking back at Scott, "but he's trying to go straight. Ororo asked me to make sure you didn't do anything to him."

"Straight? The fucker's a killer, there's no way someone like him could ever go straight. You should be helping me take him down, not protecting him" Scott claimed.

Henry's eye darkened, "OK, that's enough," he said grabbing Scott by the shoulder and pulling him. "Me and your boyfriend are going to go have a talk," he told Jean as he walked by her, "please don't eavesdrop." Scott protested and tried to get free.

Henry let him go, almost throwing him to the ground when they were far enough that no one would hear their conversation. "What the hell's wrong with you, where do you get off calling him irredeemable?"

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Scott said as he regained his footing.

Henry studied him for a moment. "The Hausenbauchs," he said in an even tone.

Scott reeled in reaction. Henry might as well have punched him in the stomach instead. "I thought we both swore never to bring them up again." Scott said after getting over the shock. He again saw the house burning in his memory.

"Yeah, but I didn't think you'd become so full of yourself and actually forgot what we did to them," Henry said crossing his arms over his chest.

Scott looked at his feet, "We didn't have a choice."

"Bullshit!"

Scott took a step back at the anger behind the word.

"Tell me Scott," Henry said with a growling voice, "exactly when did we not have a choice? When we broke into their house? When we tied them up because they came home early? Or maybe it was went we set the house on fire, with them still inside? When was it that we didn't have a choice Scott?"

"Damnit! They'd seen us, they would have called the cops, what were we supposed to do? Just sit there and wait for them to send our asses to jail?" Scott said with exasperation, as if he'd gone over this time and time again.

"We could have run, we'd done it before. We did it because we'd started feeling at home and we didn't want to abandon that. We decided that their lives weren't worth all that, so we killed them."

"Don't you think I don't know that!" Scott screamed, "Every time I'd hear a siren I knew they were coming for me. It took years for the nightmares to stop. Haven't I fucking paid enough to make up for that mistake? I've made sure their kids' kids had money to go to college, I've convinced I don't know how many Renegades to go straight. Hell I help out at the orphanage. I've paid for the screw up and I've become a better person, doesn't that count for anything?"

"Then why won't you give Bishop a chance to do the same?" Henry said his voice calm and even, "his crimes are no where near as bad as ours is." Scott almost said something to that but the look in Henry's eyes stopped him. "He has killed people, and he has killed more than we did, but he was just following orders, he didn't have an emotional involvement in those he killed, it's just a war. It's a screwed up and useless war, but they always are. What we did was a conscious decision. We decided our lives were worth more then theirs. We are the ones who committed the worst crime."

"What do you want me to do," Scott asked through clench teeth, "just forgive him, kiss him on the cheeks and act like nothing ever happened?"

"No, I don't expect you to do any of that, but I expect you to respect Ororo's wishes and give him a chance to show he can change," Henry studied Scott for a moment, "You know what? I'm not even going to expect that of you. Just make sure you give him a wide berth and don't start anything. We're here to enjoy the day. If you can't manage that with him here then I suggest you go home," having said that he turned and walked back to Thomas.

Scott stayed there, trying to figure out how to deal with this, Henry had never stood in his way before. They were comrade in arms, always side by side no matter the crazy scheme they attempted. He felt Jean walk up behind him.

"Is everything ok?" She asked him as she put a hand on his shoulders. He turned to look at her, feeling completely lost and she hugged him tightly


	3. Chapter 3

Scott remained silent for a few moments as he and Jean walked through the fair, not paying attention to any of the attractions. For the last forty five minutes he'd been telling her what he and Henry had done to the Hausenbauchs. "Then, after Henry rewired some of the outlets I flicked the switch. We stayed there until we knew the fire had caught. Then we just left."

Jean placed an arm around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder.

Scott looked at her strangely, "you're not horrified of what I did?"

She looked back at him, "no, I already knew about it, you're an open book to me remember?"

"Why did you let me continue then? You should have said something."

She gave him a sweet smile, "honey, the therapy doesn't come from me knowing about it, but from you talking about it."

"And you're ok with it?"

"It happened more than fifteen years ago. You were a kid in a bad situation and you made a stupid mistake. You've spent most of the following years chastising yourself about it and trying to make up for it. You're a good person Scott; you don't have to doubt that."

Scott smiled back at her, "are you sure you aren't rationalizing my actions?"

"Maybe a little," she said grabbing his hand, "I have a vested interest in keeping your moral high. Come on, we're here to have fun." She pulled him towards the games. She stopped in front of a booth with a square water basin with plastic lily pads in it, moving along with the current. Around the 'pond' were six small catapults.

The late teen manning the booth walked to them, giving Jean an appreciative gaze, but he focused on Scott when he spoke. "Hi," he said in a jovial voice, "how about you win something for the pretty lady? It's the easiest game around. All you have to do is land a frog on a lily pad and you're a winner. On a green gets you a small prize," he pointed to the outer row of small toys hanging from the ceiling, "on a red a medium, and if you manage to land on the golden lily pad," he picked it out of the water, "you get one of the large one."

Scott looked at the setup, not overly impressed by it as the man placed the gold lily pad back in the water.

"Come on," Jean said, listening to his doubt, "we're suppose to have fun, give this a try."

Scott gave her a doubtful look, but none the less paid for a frog. He placed it on the catapult and took aim for the golden lily pad. The frog flew wide, landing in the water.

"That was a good try," the teen announced, "how about you give it another one?"

Scott frowned, trying to work out why he'd missed. He handed him more money and took aim again. This time the frog landed on the edge, but he tipped over and fell in the water.

"Oh! That was so close," the teen exclaimed, "you almost had it, a little more to the left and it would have stayed there."

Scott handed him a bill before the man even had to suggest it and tried again, and again, and again, getting more and more frustrated that he couldn't get that damn frog to stay on.

Jean tried hard not to laugh out loud at her boyfriend when he paid for all the frogs in the pond in one shot, and then proceeded to launch them one after the other, never realizing that the more frustrated he got, the less time he was spending aiming them. When he was done with them she pulled him away before he wasted more money on it.

"At least you had fun," he told her in an exasperated tone.

She took his arm in hers, "oh yes, that was extremely amusing." She laughed when he tried to look angry, but couldn't prevent a smile.

They walked around arm in arm for a while, talking, enjoying the food, looking at the games, but not playing them. They walked by a large tent without walls with pool tables. The sign hanging from the edge of the roof said 'trick shot'. Scott's curiosity got the best of him and entered it.

An older man, dressed like a villain from an old fifties silent movie, complete with penguin tuxedo, slick handle bar mustache and black top hat.

"Well, hello there young man," he said wringing his hand theatrically, "I see that you are eyeing our wonderful game, could I convince you to attempt to win one of our amazing prize for this beautiful damsel?" The man took Jean's hand in his and brought it up to his lips. She couldn't help blushing even knowing this was all an act.

Scott chuckled, "how does it work?"

"Oh, this is simplicity itself." He made an exaggerated wave over the closest table, "I place four billiard balls in a specific pattern, you get to use this wondrous white ball to try to pocket as many of them in one shot." He handed Scott a pool cue, and took a small wooden carving of a sitting house cat out of his pocket. "If you get one ball in, you win your choice of small darling figurines like this one. If you succeed at pocketing two of them you can get one if these cute dolls." He took out a harlequin about twice the size of the cat. "Now, should you be able to pocket three of them, well you get to choose among one of those snuggable plush animals," he pointed to them, hanging all around the tent's ceiling. They were dogs and panther about a foot and a half long. "And should you manage the amazing feat of getting all four of them in, you get one of our impressive, no, humongous plush predators," and he waved at them hanging from the tent's center pole.

Scott walked around the table, nodding in appreciation, he took the chalk and applied some on the tip of the Cue and looked at the old man, who rubbed his fingers together before opening his hand. Scott smiled and handed the man his money.

The man beamed at Scott and placed the four balls on the table, three directly against the side, the fourth one against the middle ball. He then reverently handed the cue ball to Scott. "You can place this ball anywhere on the side of this line," he said as he indicated said line.

Scott nodded, "can I shoot the ball across the table first?"

The man placed a hand to his chest "would you be insinuating that my table isn't level?"

"No," Scott replied with a smile, "but I'd still like to do it."

The man sighed with defeat, "very well, you may proceed."

Scott rolled the ball across the table, on the opposite side from the other balls. It traveled in a perfect line, bounced on the cushion and returned to him.

"I hope you are satisfied now," the man said with mock disdain.

Scott nodded and studied the table, moving the cue ball to what he thought would be the best position. While he was doing that he felt a presence in his mind and looked at Jean.

^sorry,^ she sent, ^I didn't mean to distract you, I was just impressed at how you evaluate how the balls will move.^

He raised an eyebrow, ^what do you mean?^ and then returned his attention to the table.

^You don't notice what you're doing? How you work out where to hit them; how you know where they will go even with all the bounces?^

^Not really, it's just mathematics, angles and forces,^ he placed the cue ball on the table, moved it a little and was satisfied, ^there isn't much else to it really.^

^You might not realize it, but there much more you're doing, I'll show you afterward.^

Scott frowned for a moment, trying to get an idea of what she might mean, but then focused on the balls. He lined himself behind the cue ball and position the stick on his knuckles. He moved the stick back and forth slowly. When he was ready he lifted his head, winked at the old man and hit the cue ball hard, giving it back spin.

The white ball flew across the table and hit the ball closest to him exactly as it hit the cushion. The one opposite went flying against the cushion for the pocket at the other end of the table, the middle ball following it at a slower roll. The one that had been touching the middle ball rolled across the table for the middle hole while the one the cue ball hit went diagonally to the corner hole. All four found their holes, and the cue ball rolled back and fell in the pocket on Scott's left.

The old man was silent for a moment, his jaw hanging open. "Wow," he said out of character. It took him a few more second to regain his composure. "You sir," he exclaimed, "are a charlatan. You have played this game before."

Scott chuckled, "no, but I was pretty good at pool when I was younger."

The man snorted dramatically, "well, at least 'I' am an honest man," he turned to Jean, "which prize would you like to claimed my lady?"

She pointed to a large tiger on the pole. He took it down and brought it to her. "Seriously," he asked Scott as he handed it, "you know the trick to this shot, right?"

"No, I really don't I'm just good at pool in general."

Jean kissed the old man on the cheek and they left.

"So, when you were looking at the balls, you really didn't see the table in your head and the track of all the balls?"

Scott shook his head, "no, I just 'know' there they'll go."

"I think we're going to have to explore that more in depth."

Scott gave her a quizzical look, but before he could ask what she meant they heard the distinctive sound of metal snapping apart.


	4. Chapter 4

Thomas leaned down against the counter and lined up the rifle's sight with his target.

"You're not going to hit," Henry said casually.

Thomas turned his head to look at him, "what are you talking about? I happen to know how to shoot a rifle."

"I know you do, but you're still not holding it properly," He replied. He looked at the booth's operator, "do you mind if I show him how he should be holding it?" The middle aged man just shrugged.

"Henry, I don't need," Thomas started to say, but stopped as his boyfriend bend over him from behind, not grinding against him, but definitely pressing himself.

"You want to hold it so," Henry said, putting his large hand over Thomas', "and look at it like this." He used his chest to push Thomas back down, also forcing the man to press back against his midsection.

Thomas had a sharp intake of breath and shivers run down his back as he felt Henry's erection, and then felt his own body react. "I get it," he said with a bit of an edge. Henry stepped back with a satisfied smirk on his face. Thomas focused on taking aim again, wishing he's chosen to wear loose Bermudas like his boyfriend had. They gave no indication of how excited he was; while Thomas could feel his own shorts strain against his rising excitement.

He shot his five shots in rapid succession, three of which hit their targets, which earned him a medium prize. He took a moment as he straightened up to discreetly rearrange himself, giving Henry a dirty look. He looked at selection and chose a bright blue one.

"Why did you pick this one?" Henry asked as they walked away from the booth. The plush monster was about a foot and a half tall, wearing black shorts. It was sitting, leg and arms stretched forward and had a vicious set of white plush teeth.

"He reminds me of you," was Thomas' reply.

"It does?" Henry took the monster out of his boyfriend's hands and inspected him. The fur was soft and its eyes were small and black. It didn't seem to have any ears. "How?"

Thomas took it back and cuddled it, "well, blue looks good on you, you are really cuddly and you both are beastly, although you keep your beast in your pants." He moved out of the way of the swat to the back of the head Henry tried to give him, grinning.

"Alright, I deserved that," Henry admitted, "but what I did was simply retribution for the teasing you put me through under the tree."

"I was teasing you?" Thomas questioned, with a raised eyebrow, "I tend to remember someone's hands doing a lot of roaming."

"Yes, but my hands stayed over the fabric, you on the other hand were doing otherwise."

"You mean like this?" Thomas asked. Henry jumped in surprised when he felt something move inside his shorts, attracting a few strange looks.

"Thomas, please, not in public like this." Henry chastised him.

"Sorry," his lover replied, trying not to smile at the indignant look Henry was wearing.

They went to the food booths to try the exotic foods they sold. They sat at a table with everything they bought and discussed the tastes as they ate. When they were done they walked around again.

"The discussion you had with Scott," Thomas asked in a moment where they had become silent, "is it something I want to know bout?" Henry looked at him with a calculated neutral expression, it was one Thomas knew well from when they talked at home and he'd inadvertently ask about something Henry couldn't tell him.

"No," Henry replied, "you don't want to know about it."

Thomas studied him for a moment, and decided to drop it. Henry had told him a lot of stories about his time spend on the street. He'd even told him of the time he and Scott has slept together because they both needed that kind of comfort and had no one else to get it from. If Henry felt this was too personal, he owed it to him to leave it alone.

He saw the pain in Henry's eyes at the memory his question had brought back, and decided that he needed the comfort more that the trouble two men hugging in public could cause.

Before he could carry through with his decision, both their attention was taken by the distinctive sound of metal snapping apart.

* * * * *

Katherine screamed encouragements as Peter picked up the sledgehammer again. It was his third time trying to get the bell to ring. He made sure his grip was solid and swung it as hard as he could. The hammer hit the target dead center and he watched the metal ball go up the tube and ring the bell.

"And we have a winner!" The old man exclaimed. Peter smiled with satisfaction and pointed to one of the large stuffed animals when he was asked which one he wanted. He didn't particularly care which one it was, he was just happy to have beaten the game.

He walked away and Katherine wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him passionately. "That was great," she said when they stopped kissing. "I'm pretty sure that guy never thought you'd do it."

"I wasn't sure I'd be able to either," he said, not showing any signs he was ready to let her go. "It was tougher than I thought it would be, but I'd be damned if I was going to let a game get the better of me."

She kissed him again and he released her. Arm in arm they walked around, waving at Scott and Jean when they saw them in the distance.

"These two are going to get in trouble," she commented later, pointing to Henry as he moved behind Thomas.

"I don't think they care." Peter replied and dragged her away when he saw she wanted to join them. "And we aren't going to disturb them."

"You're no fun you know that?" she said, pulling her tongue at him.

"I'm lots of fun," he countered, "I draw for you, I lift heavy things for you," and to demonstrate he picked her up and placed her on his shoulder, to her delight. "I even won this lion for you. I so am fun."

She kissed the top of his head. "Alright, you are fun, now put me down so I can hold your hand." He did as she asked she took his hand, but used it to pull his arm around her as he leaned into him.

They discreetly avoided Ororo and Bishop the one time they saw them, and Katherine immediately felt guilty about it. She wanted to believe Ororo when she said that he was a better man now, but the memory of her injuries at his hands ran too deep.

She was enjoying a corn dog when she happened to look up at the Ferris wheel. "Peter, does something look odd too you about it?" she asked, pointing at it. Before he could reply the wheel shook and they heard the distinctive sound of metal snapping apart.

* * * * *

Ororo was leaning back against the wooden fence that enclosed the cows. Bishop was looking at them, thinking.

They'd spent a good hour walking around the fair, looking at the attractions and the games. Bishop had won her a locket by firing a water pistol at a clown's mouth until a balloon exploded. She had had a good time over all, although her spirits would drop a little the few times they had to change direction to avoid running into Scott, or one of the others, but Bishop wouldn't let her feel down any longer then he had to.

They had tolerated Bishop during the picnic, but made it clear he wasn't welcome there. Thomas was the only one who hadn't had any problems talking with him. Even Henry had had trouble doing more than being just polite toward him. Jean tried a time or two to engage Bishop in conversation, but Ororo could see she felt uncomfortable because of Scott's attitude. The others avoided talking to him at all.

True to his word, Bishop hadn't cared about how they treated him. He had been polite to those who talked with him, but didn't try to engage the others.

When he'd guided her to the animal pens, it was the first time in the day she had seen him lose his smile. They had walked among the pens in silence and stopped here. Bishop leaned against the fence, watching the cows.

"I spent time on a farm," he said after an extended silence.

"When was that?" she asked, turning to look at him. It was the first time he'd mentioned anything relating to his time before the renegades.

He shrugged, "I don't know. I was young, maybe ten. I don't really remember the man who ran it, but I think he was nice to me. I do remember the place had cows."

"Was it a good time?" she asked placing her hand on his.

"I guess," Bishop answered, uncertain, "It must have been. I remember every bad thing that happened in my youth, so I'd remember the farm a lot more if it hadn't been.

She leaned he and rested her head on his shoulder, "thank you for telling me."

He was silent for a moment more and then looked at her with a smile. "Considering everything you've been putting up with from your friends today, I figure you earned it." He placed an arm around her shoulders and led her back out of the pen area.

They came to the center of the fair, in sight of the Ferris wheel. Ororo noticed some people running away, and then saw the wheel shake, and then came the sound of metal snapping apart.


	5. Chapter 5

Ororo and Bishop ran toward the Ferris wheel as people ran away from it screaming. Bishop wasn't gentle to those he pushed out of their way. Ororo made a mental note to talk to him about it once the crisis was over.

"Peter!" she yelled when she noticed him and Katherine, "do what you can to stop it from toppling over."

Peter nodded and ran toward the central support beam. His exposed skin turned the colour of polished steel as his entire body turned into metal, even his short black hair gained a metallic sheen.

He placed his shoulder against the column and pushed. He felt the metal strain against his skin as it tried to bend more. For a moment it stopped and then Peter's feet slid against the pavement. With a curse he repositioned himself and slammed a foot down, breaking through the ground and pushed against it again.

Scott and Jean arrived in the open space around the wheel, as Henry and Thomas walked out of a shadow. "Jean, do what you can to calm the people on the Ferris wheel. Mac!"

"I'm on it!" Henry yelled back and ran to help Peter.

"Thomas, any way your shadows can help?" Scott asked him.

"Too much light," the man replied.

"Thomas!" Katherine yelled as she ran for the other side of the wheel, "come with me, I have an idea!" He ran after her without asking questions. She stopped at a food booth and took hold of the sign advertising two funnel cakes for the price of one in large letter. She phased it off the booth and dragged it to the column opposite the one where Henry added his strength to Peter's.

She stood it on end so it cast a shadow over the section of the beam that was half ruptured. "Is this enough shadows for you to help the guys?"

"Yes," Thomas answered as he started weaving shadows through the structure, "but we're going to have to constantly move it to make sure no light falls on it."

"Hopefully you're not going to have to hold it that long. Now hold the board so I can get what I need." She ran off as soon as he put a hand on it.

She stopped at the first booth she came across; it had a wheel on a table with symbols on it. She looked at the beams supporting the roof. They were all made of wood so she went to the next one, same thing. It was at the fourth one that she found a large tent with a central metal beam. She walked though the pool tables to examine it. it was about three inches in diameter and eight feet tall.

"Excuse me Miss, but what are you doing?" asked the man in charge of this game.

Katherine did a double take at his ridiculous outfit. "No time to explain," she took hold of the post and phase with it. The plush animals suspended to it fell down, followed by fabric roof, to the surprised curses of the man. Once the fabric stopped moving she slowly moved back, supporting the pole as she moved it down. She didn't want to let go of it since it could hurt someone or damage something as it fell; Also, while phased the pole wouldn't be affected by gravity, so she'd be able to carry it to the Ferris wheel. All she had to worry about was the pole's mass.

With the end of the pole low enough for her to put it on her shoulder she turned, grabbed solid hold of it and started pulling it toward the Ferris wheel. She couldn't move very fast at first, inertia was working against her, but step by step her speed picked up until she was running through tents and people. When she was twenty feel from Thomas she let go of the pole. It fell to the ground and skidded to a halt a few feet from him.

"Scott! I need you to come cut this!"

Scott didn't hesitate. He cut it where she indicated and she took the smaller section to the column. "How are you holding up?" she asked Thomas.

"I'm good; they're the ones holding the worst of the weight."

"Ok, move your shadows out of the way as much as you can, I need to phase this in."

Thomas nodded and moved them so she could work.

She moved the cut pole in the broken section of the beam, making sure to keep it centered between the solid parts before carefully bringing it back into phase with the beam.

"Are you ok?" Thomas asked after a few seconds.

"Yeah, this is just a little tougher than I thought,"

"Can't you just let go of it?"

"Not if I want it to hold. If I phase it back in real quick the joint's going to be brittle, the two object occupying the same space thing. I'm trying to ease it back so the atoms make space for each other. Hopefully this way it's going be solid enough to support the off center weight." As she finished speaking she slowly pulled her hand out of the column.

She took a breath and looked up to see Scott handing her another piece. On the other side Bishop was trying to anchor another pole to help support the weight Peter and Henry were supporting. She thanked him and phased this one in. When she was done he handed her the third piece.

With the third one in place Katherine sat down and leaned back against the column. "You can let go if it," she told Thomas.

"I can get a better feel for it if it starts to bend again," he replied, "Henry! Slowly let go of it, Katherine reinforced this side." Henry did as instructed, and other than a momentary whine coming from the metal column everything held. "I'm not feeling any changes, it's probably safe for Peter to let go."

"Let's not take the chance just yet," Scott said, "Mac! Get everyone down while peter and Thomas made sure the wheel doesn't fall."

It took Henry a dozen trip up the Ferris wheel to move everyone down. Only those low enough to jump down had done as soon as the wheel had started shifting. Jean had kept the others from trying to climb down while they had been working on it. Once the last of the people was back on the ground Henry climbed back up and examined one of the chairs. When he jumped back down Scott told Thomas and Peter to let go. Again the wheel complained, but remained standing.

Henry waited for everyone to rejoin the group, even Bishop, although he stayed on the outskirt. Peter helped Katherine to stand when he got to her. "This wasn't an accident," Henry said as he opened his hand to show a large piece of rock, "The impact marks show was a fairly large rock, It was probably what caused the shock which weakened the support structure."

"What could have thrown something like it that hard?" Jean asked.

Henry shrugged and before anyone else could volunteer a guess they heard a loud roar. They turned in its direction, and then heard the screams of people, just before a booth went flying high in the air.

"My guess," Katherine said, "is that we'll find out over there."

The others nodded their agreement.


	6. Chapter 6

They ran through the crowd of fleeing people. A booth came flying in their direction. Scott stopped moving only long enough to vaporize it with a look. He rejoined the others and they formed a line between the two creatures and everyone else.

"What the hell?" Scott exclaimed.

"Oh my," Henry said with worry.

"No, no, no," Peter repeated as he looked at creatures from his nightmares. Katherine took his hand in hers to remind him he wasn't alone.

The creatures were almost twice Peter's height; their muscles so ridiculously massive that anywhere other than here it would make them laugh. Their flesh was a jumble mass of skin and metal. Even through all that, there was no way to miss the resemblance.

"Jean, can you make them go to sleep?" Scott asked without looking away from them.

"No, there's no consciousness there to take the orders," she replied. "They're in immense pain," she added sadly.

One of the colossus screamed; the sound was completely inhuman.

"I've called reinforcements," Thomas said, "we just need to contain them until they arrive."

"Alright, Jean, Katherine make sure there no one in the area," Scott ordered. "Peter, are you going to be ok?"

Peter took a moment before replying, "yes, I am."

"All right then, let's subdue these things."

Katherine and Jean went to the side, away from the coming fight. Peter charged the closest creature with a scream of anger. He threw his shoulder in the impact, sending the creature reeling and then falling back.

Before the other creature could lumber to its help Henry was jumping on it, throwing a punch and then jumping out of the way of the replying swipe.

"Summers," Bishop yelled at him, "you've got to power me up."

Scott looked at the man, astonished he would even ask. "You're joking right?"

"No. I'm unarmed, without a charge I can't do anything."

"Good, then stay out of our way." Scott turned to go help his friends, but Bishop caught him by the arm.

"Damn it Summers, I'm trying to help here!"

Scott turned to face him again and pushed Bishop away. "We don't need your help so get out of here and go back to faking being a normal human being."

Bishop's entire body tensed; his eyes narrowed, he ground his teeth and closed his fists in anger. He'd had enough of the sideways glances Scott had been giving him and of the things he said about him. He was going to teach him a lesson.

Before he could do anything Ororo's voice resounded, "enough!" It was underscored by thunder and a lightning bolt striking Bishop. Scott's ears rang and all he could see for a few moments were spots. "You two are going to stop it with the testosterone." She said firmly. "Right now we have more important things to do, so get to it!"

Scott nodded, when he looked at the fight again Peter was being held on the ground and being hit repetitively. He unleashed his beam on the creature. He had expected it to be strong enough to send it flying back, but it stayed right where it was. It did lift its head and look at him. The creature's eyes sent a shiver down Scott's spine. They were the same colour as Peter's but they had no life to them. It stood and ambled toward him.

Scott fired at it again, increasing the beam's strength and it did stagger back for a moment, and then pressed on. Scott stopped firing as he backed away; all he was doing was exhausting himself.

The colossus was half a dozen steps away when it stopped. It looked back over its shoulder at Peter who was groaning has he forced himself up. It turned and walked back toward him, having completely forgotten about Scott. Peter didn't move, he waited for it; when it swung to hit him he caught the fist, spun and threw it in the air. It flew hundreds of feet away before crashing to the ground. Peter only took a second to catch his breath before running after it.

Henry was still jumping about the other creature and punching it, but now he'd get out of the way every time Ororo said to, and a lightning bolt would come down from the sky to strike it. Unfortunately it only seemed to anger it; it grabbed what ever was nearby and sent it flying at them. Its aim was rather poor and most flew over their head. Thomas was on his cell screaming at whoever was on the other end that they needed the backup right now.

^Scott!^ Jean's telepathic scream hit him with so much strength that he yelled in pain as it brought him to his knees. When he looked up a fish and chip cart was flying directly at him. He knew he had to blast it, but his mind couldn't move away from the fact that Jean was in trouble to defend himself.

Bishop happened to turn and see the cart flying toward Scott and that the man wasn't blasting it away. He didn't even think about it; he raised a fist and fired at the cart with just enough strength to alter its course so that it flew beside him and crashed further back. When Bishop turned to the creature again it was walking away, leaving everyone perplexed.

"You ok?" Thomas asked Scott as he helped him stand.

Scott nodded, "what's going on?" he asked pointing at the creature's back.

"I don't know, I think it's heading to where the other one fell."

"Backup?"

"They have a helicopter in the air; it should be here within fifteen minutes."

"Something happened to Jean, do you think they'll be ok without me?"

"Yeah, we'll keep it busy until the helicopter's here; they'll have what's needed to take them down. You go see after her."

Scott nodded and looked at those going after the creature. He focused his beam as narrowly as he could and fired it at Bishop's back with all the strength he had left. The black man didn't even slow as he was hit, but the glow around his hands went up in intensity.

* * * * *

Peter was slugging it out with his nightmare. From the moment he'd returned to his house he'd forced himself to think the memory he had of those creatures weren't real, that they were a side effect of what ever had been done to him by Genietech. To think otherwise meant that there might be part of himself out there, driven insane by the experiments they had been put through.

Right now he hated Genietech for what they had done to him and he put that hate behind each strike, forcing his nightmare to back up each time. He was also angry at himself for abandoning them to their fates when he escaped. He had known they had been there, their screams had echoed as he ran down the cavern toward his family. If he hadn't ran away, if he hadn't been so scared. Maybe he could have helped them. Since he hadn't he added his anger to the strength behind his fist as he struck this twisted reflection of himself.

"Peter!" Ororo's voice finally reached though his anger as the colossus stumbled back and fell. He turned and saw the other creature walking toward him. Behind it Ororo was motioning for him to join her and the others.

For a moment he thought about fighting it also, but he heard the one behind him stir. He went to Ororo, giving the oncoming creature a wide berth but always watching it. As he moved passed it, it stopped walking and simply turned in place so it was always facing Peter.

"What is it doing?" Henry mused to himself

"Why isn't it helping the other one?" Bishop asked, "isn't that why it came here?"

"Obviously not," Henry replied.

Ororo looked from Peter to the creature and then back. "It wasn't following the other creature," she stated. "Peter, you're going to have to become organic so I can send you flying pretty far from here."

"Is that wise?" Henry asked.

"We can't beat them, all we can do is play for time until the Agency gets here. How long Thomas?"

"Around ten minutes."

She looked at Peter, "I'm going to create a cyclone to lift you, and I'm going to try to send you over the forest, try to wait until the last minute before ironing up again."

Peter nodded and his skin regained its slightly tanned hue. Ororo had the others move away and the wind picked up around Peter. Quickly he had trouble remaining where he was as the wind buffeted him around. Suddenly he lost his footing and he found himself spinning, the ground moving away.

He was turning too fast to make out anything, he couldn't even figure out how long it had been since he started moving up. Then something in the wind changed and he wasn't spinning anymore, he was being pushed. It took him a few seconds to regain enough of his senses to realize he was flying through the air. And he few more before he turned around to see where he was headed. He could see the trees under him, for just a moment they seemed to be moving away, and then they started becoming larger.

He ironed up barely a second before he hit the first one. As he crashed through trunks and branches he promised himself he was going to let Ororo know this hadn't been one of her greatest ideas.

* * * * *

Scott ran past what was left of a game booth; it looked like it had come crashing down. Behind it was a group of people forming a semi circle around the two men tending to Jean.

"What happened?" He asked as he knelt next to her.

"She was guiding us to the exit when that thing came flying out of the sky," said the one opposite him, pointing to the game booth. "It looked like it was going to land right on top of us, but then it just stopped and fell short. At the same time she screamed and lost consciousness."

Scott nodded and checked her pulse; it was strong. "Jean, honey, can you hear me?" ^Jean?^ he tried to send to her. He couldn't read her mind like she could his, but they had discovered early that if he concentrated on it he could send to her. ^Jean?^ he asked again, and very softly, as if coming from very far away, she responded

^Scott?^ his name came. She stirred, "Scott?" she asked opening her eyes.

"Are you ok? What happened?" He asked worriedly as he cradled her head.

"I don't know, I saw something come toward us and got angry that I hadn't been able to get everyone to safety. Then it felt like someone hit me over the head with a baseball bat and everything went dark."

"Everyone's safe now. How's your head?"

"Do you have any Excedrin?" she asked with a smile.


	7. Chapter 7

As soon as Ororo sent Peter flying the two creatures lumbered after him in a straight line. What ever was in their way got smashed to pieces. When the helicopter sighted them they called Thomas for instructions. He ordered them to find Peter and take him to the closest clearing large enough for the helicopter to land and then set things up.

As they got close to the clearing Thomas told the others to go around to avoid getting caught in the splash. They ran and entered the side of the clearing in time to see one of the canons setup in front of the helicopter fire thick goo at the creatures. When they were covered with it the operator signaled the man at the other one and he turned it on.

Nothing obvious happened, but the creatures started having difficulty moving, the goo cracking instead of flowing. They had to apply three other layer of it before the creatures were fully immobilized. Once that was done they added hooks to each of them for transport. Henry watched them work, commenting to one of the men that it was an ingenious use of ultraviolet sensitive adhesive.

When the helicopter was ready to leave Thomas made sure Ororo didn't need him before getting on. He watched their cargo dangling under them as they lifted up.

* * * * *

Jean indicated to Scott with a nod the others coming. She had told them mentally where they were as soon as she felt Peter's mind at the edge of her range.

"Is she ok?" Scott asked the paramedic again.

"As far as I can tell she seems fine." The woman answered as she pointed a penlight at one of Jean's eyes and then the other. "There's no sluggishness in her responses, she doesn't seem to have any dizziness or any other signs of head injuries. The headache worries me a little, but I don't have any training with mutant related injuries, so all I can do is recommend you see a qualified doctor as soon as you can."

Jean nodded, "I'm sure they won't give me a choice anyway at work."

"Was anyone seriously hurt?" Ororo asked when she joined them. Henry was with another paramedic to get his hands looked at. There was half a dozen ambulances setup in a semi circle treating those hurt.

"No," the paramedic replied, "everyone who was able to had the common sense to run away. Only some of those who ended up trapped under tents or some of the debris had minor injuries. Ms. Grey and her friend helped us get to everyone still trapped when we arrived."

Scott squeezed jean's shoulder with pride as the paramedic talked. Ororo nodded, showing no surprised that Jean had told the paramedics to look after everyone else before she would let them examine her.

^Go,^ Jean told Scott when she noticed he was watching Bishop surveying the scene from edge of the treatment area. ^I'll be fine,^ she comforted him.

Scott nodded and walked to the man, looking at him in a different light. Even the most peaceful Renegades tended to believe that normal humans were inferior and that hey should be left to deal with what ever trouble they found themselves in on their own. Bishop had not only stayed around to protect humans, but he'd blasted that cart away from him. Scott knew that if the situation had been reversed he wouldn't have even tried to save the man.

"Bishop," Scott said in as neutral a tone as he could. Bishop turned to look at him. "I wanted to thank you for what you did back there." He hesitated a moment before offering his hand, "and I wanted to apologize for the things I've said about you."

Bishop looked at the hand and didn't move. He looked at something behind Scott for a moment and then took the offered hand in his and shook it. "Apology accepted." He said.

* * * * *

Thomas stormed through the agency's offices. Those in the corridor took one look at him and gave him a wide berth. He didn't acknowledge the secretary as he tried to stop him; he entered the Commander's office, slamming the door behind him.

"Yes sir," the commander said, on the phone, raising an eyebrow as he looked at Thomas, fuming in front of the door, "I'll be sending you the findings as soon as the researchers are done compiling them. Yes sir, I know sir. Goodbye sir."

As soon as he hung up Thomas went to the desk and slammed both hands on it. "What fucking right did you have to use my friends like that?" He asked, seething with anger.

The commander looked at him calmly, "is that the proper way to address a superior officer?"

"I'm not talking to my commander I'm talking to my fucking father. What the fuck were you thinking setting us up like that? We're lucky Ororo realized what they were after, otherwise there probably wouldn't have been anything left of us by the time the backup arrived."

The commander left the silence hang for a moment before asking, "are you willing to listen to what I have to say?" Thomas glared at him before nodding reluctantly. "I didn't set you up," he lifted a hand to forestall Thomas' challenge, "When I gave you those tickets we were still looking for some of those creatures from the lab we found from Jean's reading of Peter's mind. One of the caverns they could have taken did exit about twenty miles from the fair. I didn't know that's where they had gone; in fact I was hoping they'd go somewhere else. I wanted you to have a day to relax, *but* I knew that if something did happen, you, Henry, Scott and the others could deal with it."

Thomas looked at his father for a moment, "You could at least have told me, that way I would have been ready for them instead of being caught off guard like I was. I barely pulled my weight."

The older man shook his head. "If I'd told you about the possibility you would have spent your time there on guard instead of enjoying yourself."

Thomas wanted to contradict his father, but he couldn't; the man knew him well. He sighed, "has anyone reached a decision about them?"

"Not really, I want them terminated; it's the humane thing to do, but someone higher is insisting we continue analyzing them."

"Would you terminate all of them sir?" Thomas asked, thinking about the one they had found in the cage, the one with no imperfection, except for the vacant eyes.

The commander knew who he meant. "Doctor Grey confirmed that his mind is completely blank; only his autonomous systems are working. If someone was lying on a hospital bed with as little brain activity as he has, would you hesitate to pull the plug and send him on his way?"

"No sir," Thomas replied softly, "but doesn't Peter deserve to know about him?"

The commander looked at Thomas, his gaze steady, "no, I don't think he needs to know. He's working on rebuilding his life, dealing with having missed two years of his friend's lives and being dead for one. That young man has gone through enough. Seeing that mindless double would only serve to make him doubt the truth of his existence. Do you really want to put him through that?"

"No sir," Thomas replied and then was silent.

"Would it be easier if I ordered you not to tell him?"

"No sir, it wouldn't, but I won't tell him. You're right, he shouldn't have to deal with that."

* * * * *

Jean had spent days being tested by the other doctors at the Agency. After the first brain scan had revealed that a part of her brain had become unusually active since her last one they were all over themselves trying to find out what it meant. Now that they knew she had decided to do something with it.

The commander's secretary let her know he was ready for her so she walked in.

"What can I do for you doctor?" the commander asked indicating the chair in front of his desk.

Jean sat in it. "I'd like to get trained for field work."

The commander raised an eyebrow, "are you certain? Field work is a far cry from the lab."

"I know sir, but with what happened at the fair I think I could be useful in the field," she hesitated a moment, "and I'm developing telekinesis," she said handing him the folder she had brought with her.

He took it and placed it on his desk without opening it. "I didn't think mutations could evolve like that."

"They can't, we don't think it's something brand new with me. That section of my brain has always shown some activity, so we think that it's just that I never bothered trying to use it before."

"Weren't you given the full battery of test when you joined?"

"Yes sir, but only for telepath. As far as I know it's unheard of for someone to have two abilities and have one of them remain completely dormant."

"And it's because of that ability that you want to work in the field?"

"Partially, since I started going out with Scott I've been feeling like I should be doing more than just evaluate psychological profiles or probe minds. To be honest sir, except for Logan's case, anyone of the other psychologist could do my work."

The commander smiled at her. "Now that you've been spending some time actually out of your lab you're discovering that the outside world is interesting, is that it?"

Jean found herself blushing, "yes sir, that's about it."

His smile grew wider, "alright, I'll approve the training, but don't expect to spend all your time outside your lab, while it's true others could do your work, you're still the best one here."

"Thank you sir!"

"Don't thank me until you've asked Thomas what the training entails," he replied with an evil smile.


End file.
